Carnival 2018 closes with 50th anniversary in mind

PHILIPSBURG–Carnival stakeholders had their final night in the Village on Wednesday evening following the Last Lap Jump-Up and the burning of King Momo, and Carnival Village has turned back into Festival Village.

The Jump-Up on Wednesday evening started on A.J.C. Brouwer Road and made its way to Carnival Village. Carnival-lovers had a chance to go and visit their favourite booth-holders before they closed shop until the next Carnival season.

TelCell Carnival prizes were given out on Wednesday evening by its TelEm Chief Executive Officer Kendall Dupersoy and his team. Marticaliska Busty won the Caribbean cruise for two courtesy of KK Travel, Elvis Smit a US $5,000 voucher from Ashley Furniture, Daphne Thomas a $1,500 voucher from Kooyman and Kimberly Maria a $1,000 voucher to shop at Carrefour Market, Djoeke van der Werf a 55-inch HD TV with surround sound from Klass Electronics, Frank den Harpigh an iPhone 10, Emanuel Liber a Samsung 9 phone, Donald Webster an HP Laptop from Klass Electronics, Ashma John a weekend stay for two at Simpson Bay Resort and dinner for two at La Patrona, and Nyanne Martine one year free Internet from TelEm Group.

The much-anticipated Band of the Year was also named by St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF). Mr. O-Ezy and TG band won the title this year over Road March favourite and this year’s Band Clash winner XP Band. XP came in second while young band ZTB Band came in third this year. SCDF said the competition was tough this year and thanked all bands for their participation.

SCDF announced that the dates for the 50th anniversary of St. Maarten Carnival are April 22 to May 6, 2019. “We are going to go all out for Carnival’s golden anniversary. It will be a celebration to remember,” SCDF President Alston Lourens said.

The official part of Carnival 2019 (when Carnival Village opens and closes) will span two weeks, exactly 14 days. The pre-Carnival events will start mid-March and run until the Village opens, SCDF explained. “In other words, we will have almost two months of Carnival 50 activities and then some,” Lourens said.

In selecting the dates and eventually constructing the schedule, SCDF had to consider how Easter, more specifically the Holy Week of Lent (the week of Good Friday), falls on the calendar. By tradition, SCDF does not host any events during Holy Week and has always hosted Carnival after Easter. Easter Sunday 2019 is April 21. Carnival 2019 will open on Easter Monday, April 22.

“With Easter falling late, that also meant the school vacation would also run a little later into May. That gave us the space to give the public 14 days of Carnival,” Lourens said. “We would like to see the involvement of all stakeholders, past and present, in their own ways or with the SCDF for Carnival 50. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event and we intend to involve as many people as possible to make it an epic anniversary celebration. The foundation will start planning immediately.”

He added that a special logo for Carnival 50 will be selected from a number of submissions and will be launched publicly soon. SCDF will also release the complete schedule of events by the end of June or before.